Other editions of book Uncle Vanya

Uncle Vanya is a play by the Russian playwright Anton Chekhov. It was first published in 1897 and received its Moscow première in 1899 in a production by the Moscow Art Theatre, under the direction of Konstantin Stanislavski. The play portrays the visit of an elderly professor and his glamorous, much younger second wife, Yelena, to the rural estate that supports their urban lifestyle. Two friends—Vanya, brother of the professor's late first wife, who has long managed the estate, and Astrov, the local doctor—both fall under Yelena's spell, while bemoaning the ennui of their provincial existence. Sonya, the professor's daughter by his first wife, who has worked with Vanya to keep the estate going, suffers from her unrequited feelings for Dr. Astrov. Matters are brought to a crisis when the professor announces his intention to sell the estate, Vanya and Sonya's home, with a view to investing the proceeds to achieve a higher income for himself and his wife.

Famous play by the Russian short story writer and playwright. His major plays are frequently revived in modern productions. The whole play takes place at Professor Serebryakov's country house, which is inhabited year-round by his daughter, Sonya, his late wife's mother, Mariya, and his late wife's brother, Ivan, or Vanya. They're like his secret, leftover family while he lives it up with his new, hot wife in the city.

This structurally and psychologically compact drama takes place on an estate in 19th-century Russia, exploring the complex interrelationships between a retired professor, his second wife, and the daughter and brother-in-law from his first marriage. Interwoven themes of weakness, delusion, and despair are balanced by an underlying message of courage and hope.

One of the most important dramatic works from the acclaimed Russian playwright and “father of the modern dysfunctional family comedy” (Hyde Park Herald). A classic four-act romantic tragedy, Uncle Vanya is essentially a reworking of an earlier Chekhov play, The Wood Demon. It tells the story of a retired university professor and his extended middle-class family. When the professor unexpectedly announces he is about to sell his country estate, scheming between the play’s nine principle characters ensues. Tensions crest when their security is threatened and disappointments from the past—unrequited feelings, miseries, and failures—shockingly resurface. One could think of Uncle Vanya, which had its Moscow premiere in 1899 and remains a favorite of theatergoers to this day, “as the forerunner of existential tragicomedies like Waiting for Godot and No Exit. Underlying the characters’ boredom, frustration, and desperation is the monumental realization that their lives are meaningless and have no purpose, even if some of them are in denial” (Hyde Park Herald). “Uncle Vanya is a study of ennui, unfulfilled desires, and the misery of rural isolation. Yet it’s also funny—full of Chekhov’s social satire and disdain for hypocrisy.” —Go London

Uncle Vanya is the second of Chekhov’s major plays, published in 1897 and first performed by the Moscow Art Theatre in 1899. An elderly retired professor and his beautiful young wife Yelena pay a visit to the family estate that supports their lifestyle and is managed by Vanya, the brother of his late first wife, and Sonya, his daughter by his first wife. Also on hand are Astrov, the local doctor; Maria, mother of Vanya and the professor’s first wife; Telegin, a tenant; Marina, an old nurse; and an unnamed workman. The visit reveals long simmering resentments and discontents as well as unrequited desires that build during the play’s four acts. Vanya and Astrov yearn for Yelena, while Sonya pines for Astrov. Things come to a head when the professor proposes to sell the estate, which would dislocate the residents, prompting Vanya to pursue the professor with a pistol. The professor backs down, he and his wife pack up and leave, and life returns to its heavy humdrum patterns. The play has been a staple in the modern theatre and has been adapted for film several times, most recently by David Mamet in 1996 as August.

Uncle Vanya is one of Anton Checkov's four major plays. It was first performed in 1900, the year after its publication, under direction by the celebrated Konstantin Stanislavski. The text reworks an earlier play by Checkov, The Wood Demon. Critics have attempted to follow Checkov's method and artistic development by tracking the changes he made to the earlier text. The cast of Uncle Vanya is significantly pared back and the ending left less happily resolved.